Ground anchors are used in a wide variety of applications, both on dry land and under water, for example in anchoring antennae or floating structures, such as docks.
Ground anchors are generally driven lengthwise into the ground (either directly or through pre-drilled holes) and then pulled upward when the desired depth has been reached. The pulling action results in tilting the anchor into a transverse position for the anchoring function. The tilting occurs about a pivot point. With prior art anchors, a connection feature (such as a socket, padeye, or shackle, among others) is formed at the pivot point for coupling to a connecting rod, cable, or chain ("connecting member"). The connecting member connects the anchored structure to the anchor.
Such prior art anchors are exemplified in the following United States patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,108 issued to Hugron on Dec. 15, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,355 issued to Pildysh on Sep. 24, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,370 issued to Jewett on Jul. 16, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,317 issued to Chandler on Feb. 7, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,063 issued to Alsop on Apr. 19, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,693 issued to Rockenfeller, et al. on Mar. 1, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,360 issued to Luong, et al. on Aug. 25, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,446 issued to Beavers, et al. on Sep. 16, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,673 issued to Deike on Jun. 27, 1978; U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,854 issued to Deike on Jul. 20, 1976; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,057 issued to Zubke on Jun. 10, 1975. These patents are herein incorporated by reference.
With prior art anchors, the bulk of material needed to form the connection feature is added to the pivot point. Because the pivot point often has a significant cross-section in and of itself, the addition of the connection feature results in an even larger cross section. Such large cross sections result in difficult insertion of anchors into the ground, and often require the drilling of holes of diameters sufficient to accommodate the cross section of the combination pivot point and the connection feature.
Furthermore, the weakest point of a ground anchor is generally at the pivot point, since this is where force is exerted between the connecting member and the anchor. Therefore, the strength of the anchor will generally be determined by the type of material and geometry of the pivot point. With prior art systems, the connecting member is attached at the pivot point, and thus the connection feature is formed at the pivot point. Such features can reduce anchor strength, since they are formed at the weakest point, unless the anchor is appropriately sized up.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a ground anchor that is relatively stronger for its size than prior art anchors, thus allowing for easier driving of the anchor into the ground. In particular, a need has arisen for a ground anchor that can be driven into narrower holes, since narrower holes can be drilled into the ground more quickly and at less cost than wider holes.